Responsible business

For us, sustainability is integral to how we do business. With 7 billion people on our planet, the earth’s resources can be strained. This means sustainable growth is the only acceptable model of growth for our business. The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan sets out to decouple our growth from our environmental impact, while at the same time increasing our positive social impact. Our Plan has three big goals that by 2020 will enable us to:

Help more than a billion people to improve their health and well-being.

Halve the environmental footprint of our products.

Source 100% of our agricultural raw materials sustainably and enhance the livelihoods of people across our value chain.

To embed sustainability into every stage of the life cycle of our products, we’re working with our suppliers to support responsible approaches to agriculture. We’re also learning from NGOs and other organisations, recognising that building a truly sustainable business is not something we can do without expert advice.

At the heart of our business is our purpose – to make sustainable living commonplace. Companies are increasingly realising the role that purpose can play and Unilever along with many others has signed up to the Blueprint for Better Business initiative(Link opens in a new window), which helps business develop their purpose and embed it within the organisation, as well as move the conversation of the business sector as a whole.

We believe that as a business we have a responsibility to our consumers and to the communities in which we have a presence. Around the world we invest in local economies and develop people’s skills inside and outside of Unilever. And through our business and brands, we run a range of programmes to promote hygiene, nutrition, empowerment and environmental awareness.

Impact & innovation

We invest around €1 billion every year in research and development, and have established laboratories around the world where our scientists explore new thinking and techniques, applying their expertise to our products.

Consumer research plays a vital role in this process. Our unrivalled global reach allows us to get closer to consumers in local markets, ensuring we understand their diverse needs and priorities.

About our brands

From long-established names like Lifebuoy, Sunlight and Pond’s to new innovations such as the Pureit affordable water purifier, our range of brands is as diverse as our worldwide consumer base.

Unilever has more than 400 brands, 14 of which generate sales in excess of €1 billion a year.

Many of these brands have long-standing, strong social missions, including Lifebuoy’s drive to promote hygiene through handwashing with soap, and Dove’s campaign for real beauty.

Employees want a sense of purpose and citizens want businesses they can trust. Businesses that serve society rather than take from it. Businesses driven by more than just the bottom line. And, yes, increasingly it makes more business sense as well. Blueprint for Better Business can help us get there.